A majority of cell phone owners thought that when dialing 9-1-1 from within their home, first responders could locate them at least to their block, however, that's not the case. Wireless companies use GPS for location services, which works best in rural areas and outdoors but doesn't provide an accurate location to first responders if a 911 call is made from indoors in urban areas.

Under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), cellphone service providers meet the guidelines if an accurate location is given to 911 call centers for only outdoor wireless 911 calls. However, the FCC is working to update this rule because of the increasing number of Americans who are turning off their land-lines and turning on their cellphones indoors.

The proposed change to Enhanced 911 (E911) rules includes indoor location accuracy. The FCC website states that the Commission proposes that wireless providers meet interim location accuracy metrics that would be sufficient to identify the building for most indoor calls.

The survey conducted by Find Me 911 August 15 through 18 through SurveyMonkey received responses from 1,048 adult cell phone owners in the United States.

The survey showed only six percent of cell phone owners knew that information to 911 call centers would likely only be accurate to the neighborhood level or worse.

"Cell phone carriers have used GPS technology for finding callers, but GPS technology is not particularly effective when you're indoors or in a big city," Find Me 911 Coalition member Andrew Weinstein said in an interview with AL.com.

The coalition was founded more than a year ago by concerned public safety officials around the country over the issue of locating 911 calls on cellphones.

The FCC adopted the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its public meeting on Feb. 20, 2014, and the text of the proposed rule was printed in the Federal Register on March 28, 2014, according to Weinstein. From March 28, interested parties had 45 days to comment on the proposed rule and an additional 30 days to reply to comments. That comment period was extended by 30 additional days, so it closed on July 15, 2014, Weinstein said.

The Federal Register notes that the wireless usage has increased since the Commission adopted its E911 location accuracy rules in 1996. At the end of 2007, 15.8 percent of American households were wireless only. During the first half of 2013, that number had increased to 39.4 percent, according to the Federal Register.

"The current technology they (cell phone companies) are using is cheaper, but it's not enough to find people which means a dollar saved is lives lost," Weinstein said to AL.com.

The Find Me 911 survey found 63 percent of respondents said they would consider switching cell phone companies to a provider who could more accurately and reliably find 911 callers.

In a July speech at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Simpson said the bottom line is "carriers will be fully accountable."

"Yes, it is an ecosystem, but the buck stops with the carrier...While providers are entitled to make decisions about their businesses, they are not entitled to do so in a manner that endangers 911 or puts the public at risk. Regardless of visibility, regardless of responsibility, regardless of accountability, 911 has to be as close to perfect as we can make it," Simpson said.

Find Me 911 initiated a petition on Change.org and as of Thursday evening, had 15,215 signatures. Many 911 operators signed the petition and commented about their support.

"I think every public safety voice has an impact and the fact that so many 911 operators have urged the FCC to pass this rule is really compelling evidence of the importance of their action here," Weinstein said to AL.com.

Kelly Lowe from California commented on the petition and said she's a 15-year 911 operator/dispatch veteran. "I know how important it is. I've received these types of 9-1-1 calls. You have no idea how horrible it is, for both caller and call-taker," Lowe wrote.

Beth Bowman from North Carolina commented, saying, "From experience as a 911 operator. It was heartbreaking when someone needed help and we couldn't find them. Please pass this."

Weinstein said Find Me 911 has received personal stories from 9-1-1 operators, and received one from Alabama: "Had a critical wreck called in by a passerby, from out of the area. Person might have been saved, had we been able to properly locate the accident." The personal stories received by Find Me 911 came in an anonymous manner to avoid any concerns about divulging personal information about the victims or the 9-1-1 personnel themselves, according to Weinstein.